Do Polish Consumers Take Proper Care of Hygiene while Shopping and Preparing Meals at Home in the Context of Wasting Food?

Evaluation of Food Safety Knowledge and Attitudes Among Adults in the United Arab Emirates

Background Food is handled by many individuals in large food setups, therefore increasing the chance of contamination that leads to foodborne diseases (FBDs). This study was purposed to evaluate adults' understanding of food safety, FBDs, and hygiene practices across various demographic groups in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and to explore the link between their knowledge of food safety and their corresponding attitudes. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted with 402 adults using a validated, self-administered questionnaire available in both printed and online formats. The study was carried out at Gulf Medical University and Thumbay hospitals and clinics over six months, beginning in December 2022 to June 2023. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0 (Released 2019; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States). The chi-squared test was employed to examine the association between variables, and significant associations were further analyzed through logistic regression. Results Out of the 402 participants, the population was predominantly female 275 (67.9%), and from Southeast Asia 222 (55.4%), with students comprising the largest occupational group 186 (47%). Only 106 (26.36%) had received food safety training, and a mere 187 (46.51%) demonstrated adequate knowledge. Awareness levels varied, with the highest for raw food safety (64.02%) and the lowest for canned foods (40.79%). Demographic analysis revealed significant associations: males exhibited more inadequate knowledge 79 (62.2%) than females 136 (49.4%), and students showed higher inadequacy 104 (55.9%) compared to healthcare workers 31 (35.6%). Positive attitudes towards food safety were prevalent 226 (56.2%), and positive attitudes were found in women 157 (57.1%), individuals above 30 years of age 110 (50.5%), individuals working in healthcare 140 (62%), and married individuals 117 (60.9%). With a strong correlation (p<0.001), women were 1.68 times more likely to possess adequate knowledge than men (95% CI: 1.09, 2.59), and healthcare workers were 2.33 times more likely than students (95% CI: 1.37, 3.95). Conclusion The study reveals a low level of knowledge about food safety among adults in the UAE. Therefore, emphasis should be placed on increasing awareness of these concepts to reduce the burden of FBDs on the healthcare system.

Leftovers lovers vs. haters: A latent class analysis on dinner leftover management behaviours

Leftovers are particularly at risk of being discarded, and therefore a main component of household food waste. This study provides insights into sources of heterogeneity in leftover management behaviours, with a particular focus on the use of meal kits providing matched portion and ingredient sizes, and identifies consumer segments via a latent class analysis. We investigate whether belonging to a segment with positive attitudes toward leftovers, and engagement in conscious leftover management behaviours decreases the amounts of dinner leftovers and food waste. Besides, we demonstrate that several food waste antecedents, emotions, personal norms, intention and dinner procurement routines elicit leftover management segment membership. In addition to examining such individual differences, we also investigate the role of meal-level determinants, in particular, whether meal kits heterogeneously affect dinner leftovers depending on the consumer's leftover management segment. Data was collected from 868 households from six countries, using an online survey and diaries. Results of the latent class analysis point towards five consumer segments. We found differences in dinner leftovers amount across classes and detected heterogeneous effects of meal kits. That is, meal kits were able to diminish leftovers in two segments, but not in the other segments. These results provide novel insights into consumer heterogeneity regarding the occurrence, antecedents, and potential solutions of leftovers and resulting household food waste. Implications for both theory and policy are discussed.

Consumer attitudes and perceptions towards chilled ready-to-eat foods: a multi-national study

Understanding consumers' behavior and their handling of high-risk foods at home is essential for reducing the number of foodborne illnesses. This study shows the results of a cross-national analysis of consumers' perception from nine countries, and the identification of customers' clusters and its characteristics in order to understand customers' behavior, and to build safe chilled ready-to-eat (RTE) foods prevention strategies. The cluster analysis resulted in two clusters: (1) "Precautious consumers" characterized by the orientation towards pre-packed RTE foods, with consumers mainly coming from Bosnia and Herzegovina, India, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey. Their attitudes and self-reported practices may be categorized as less risky in terms of food-borne illnesses connected with the consumption of RTE foods; (2) "Unconcerned consumers" preferred cutting and slicing RTE foods freshly at the point of purchase, usually sold at the delicatessen department in a supermarket or at open markets. Those consumers mostly came from Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia and their attitudes and self-reported practices were riskier. These results allow a better understating of what characterizes consumers of RTE foods in different countries.

Dietary Catering: The Perfect Solution for Rational Food Management in Households

The problem of food waste is a global phenomenon. Food waste occurs at all stages of the food chain. Households, especially in developed countries, produce the most food waste. In order to effectively prevent consumers from throwing food away, it is important to understand the factors that determine these behaviors in the household. The aim of this study was to define the goal of using dietary catering in Polish society as a form of consumption of wholesome meals with a specific calorific value and distribution of macronutrients in the aspect of reducing losses related to food waste. The research was carried out online in the years 2020–2022 among the clients of a catering company. The survey respondents were residents of the Małopolskie Voivodeship in Poland. The research tool was an original anonymous questionnaire in the form of a shortened nutritional interview. On the basis of the obtained results, it can be concluded that factors such as age and gender influence consumer behavior. The reasons for the decision to choose dietary catering were mainly indicated as wasting and throwing away food, as well as inadequate management of food supplies and preparing too large portions of meals.

Guidance on date marking and related food information: part 2 (food information)

A risk-based approach was used to develop guidance to be followed by food business operators (FBOs) when deciding on food information relating to storage conditions and/or time limits for consumption after opening a food package and thawing of frozen foods. After opening the package, contamination may occur, introducing new pathogens into the food and the intrinsic (e.g. pH and aw), extrinsic (e.g. temperature and gas atmosphere) and implicit (e.g. interactions with competing background microbiota) factors may change, affecting microbiological food safety. Setting a time limit for consumption after opening the package (secondary shelf-life) is complex in view of the many influencing factors and information gaps. A decision tree (DT) was developed to assist FBOs in deciding whether the time limit for consumption after opening, due to safety reasons, is potentially shorter than the initial 'best before' or 'use by' date of the product in its unopened package. For products where opening the package leads to a change of the type of pathogenic microorganisms present in the food and/or factors increasing their growth compared to the unopened product, a shorter time limit for consumption after opening would be appropriate. Freezing prevents the growth of pathogens, however, most pathogenic microorganisms may survive frozen storage, recover during thawing and then grow and/or produce toxins in the food, if conditions are favourable. Moreover, additional contamination may occur from hands, contact surfaces or contamination from other foods and utensils. Good practices for thawing should, from a food safety point of view, minimise growth of and contamination by pathogens between the food being thawed and other foods and/or contact surfaces, especially when removing the food from the package during thawing. Best practices for thawing foods are presented to support FBOs.

A Closer Look at Changes in High-Risk Food-Handling Behaviors and Perceptions of Primary Food Handlers at Home in South Korea across Time

Food-handling behaviors and risk perceptions among primary food handlers were investigated by consumer surveys from different subjects in 2010 (N = 609; 1st survey will be called here “Year 2010”) and 2019 (N = 605; 2nd survey will be called here “Year 2019”). Year 2010 was characterized by consumers’ risk perception-behavior gap (i.e., consumers knew safe methods for food-handling, but responses regarding the behaviors did not support their confidence in food safety): they (1) did not wash/trim foods before storage, (2) thawed frozen foods at room temperature, and (3) exposed leftovers to danger zone temperatures. These trends were not improved and the gaps in Year 2010 remained in Year 2019. Year 2010 was also characterized by other common high-risk behaviors improved during 8 years for the following aspects: (1) 70.0% of consumers divided a large portion of food into smaller pieces for storage, but few consumers (12.5%) labeled divided foods with relevant information, and (2) they excessively reused kitchen utensils. Whereas in Year 2019, more consumers (25.7%) labeled food and usage periods for kitchen utensils were shortened. Consumers usually conformed to food safety rules in both Year 2010 and 2019: (1) separate storage of foods, (2) storage of foods in the proper places/periods, (3) washing fruits/vegetables before eating, (4) washing hands after handling potentially hazardous foods, and (5) cooking foods and reheating leftovers to eat. Our findings provided resources for understanding consumers’ high-risk behaviors/perceptions at home, highlighting the importance of behavioral control.